Title : RESEARCH IN THERMAL NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF CORROSION IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES.

Descriptive Note : Final rept. 15 Apr 66-15 Aug 67,

Corporate Author : AUTOMATION INDUSTRIES INC BOULDER CO RESEARCH DIV

Personal Author(s) : Apple, W. R. ; Barton, E. J. ; Salisbury, H. R.

Report Date : 08 SEP 1967

Pagination or Media Count : 66

Abstract : Existing thermal nondestructive testing equipment and techniques were used to detect corrosion defects in test samples supplied by the U. S. Navy. The system operation used is basically a controlled heating and temperature measurement over one surface of a test sample. Heat flow from the surface into the sample material is examined through surface temperature measurement using an infrared detection system. Information from the infrared detector is fed to a recording system for display of defect conditions. Surface, intergranular, and interlayer corrosion were detected in various samples. Three different thermal test techniques were studied. The first was the thermal line scan heat technique, the second was the static heat or area scan technique, and the third was the reflection scan method. These techniques are described in this report. Most experiments were performed using the scan heat method, although in the final stage of the study increasing emphasis was placed on reflection and area scan applications.